Hydraulic oil-press



"Nrrn WILLIAM WILBER, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

HYDRAULIC OIL-PRESS.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 14,005, dated December 25, 1855.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM VILBER, of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hydraulic Presses for Pressing Oleaginous Seeds, &c.; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part thereof, in which- Figure l, represents a side elevation. Fig. 2, represents a central longitudinal and vertical section through the same, leaving the piston heads in full. Fig. 3, represents a vertical transverse section through the cylinder, and one of the piston shafts. Fig. 4, represents a similar vertical section through one of the seed boxes, in which the pressing is done. Fig. 5, represents an enlarged view of one of heads of piston, which is the platen of the press, to better show the method of packing, and Fig. 6, represents one of the plates, on an enlarged scale, which are placed between the tempered seed in the seed boxes, for purposes which will be explained.

Similar letters where they occur in the several figures denote like parts.

'Io enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

A, represents the base of the press, and B, pillar blocks on which the several parts are mounted.

C, is a reservoir of water, over which are placed two double acting pumps-a larger one D, and smaller one E. These pumps D, E, are made in the usual well known manner, each being provided with a weighted safety |valve, and with pipes suitable to their capacity, for raising from the reservoir, and forcing into the cylinder the water which drives the pistons. The larger pump is used, first, and until the resistance upon it makes it too laborious to work with safety and convenience, and then the smaller one is used. A third, and fourth pump may be used, .which are still further graduated for power instead of speed, but will scarcely be found necessary in ordinary work.

F, is the cylinder of the press. It is made of staves of hard wood (as seen in Fig. 3),

and lined inside with a copper cylinder, and

double banded on the outside with iron bands. Other metal may of course be used in its construction, and I mention copper, and iron because they have proved to be effective, and serviceable. The cylinder F, is firmly mounted on the pillar blocks B, and is made as above set forth, instead of solid metal, or of metal staves because in the first place it is lighter, and secondly there is a degree of elasticity in the wood, although restrained between its metallic lining, and covering, which makes it more reliable against the pressure, than the solid cast metal, unless said solid metal be of enormous weight and thickness. And a cylinder, such as I describe, being safer, is ultimately cheaper than a solid metal one, or one made of metal staves. Within this cylinder F, are two piston heads G, packed, with leather, or vulcanized rubber packing as seen in Fig. 5, where a represents a disk, holding the packing b between it and the piston head G, to which said disk is attached by a screw c, or otherwise. The pressure of the water within the cylinder, forces the leather or rubber against the cylinder, and makes the packing perfectly tight against the water, while when the pressure of the water is removed from it, it allows the piston to be easily run back for the succeeding operations.

H, are the piston shafts, having ribs on their sides, to give them strength without too much weight of metal, and on their ends, are the pistons or platens I, which are driven into the seed boxes J, by the action of the pumps. The areas of the platens I, are less than the areas of the piston heads G. This is for the purpose of concentrating the power on the pistons or platens I. The seed boxes J, are rectangular, and the platens I, moving in said boxes must be of similar form, said boxes being firmly bound with metallic hoops d, and the top part (J) of said box, hinged, so as to be readily swung open for removing the seed cake, and refurnishing it with fresh seed. For this purpose a single rod K, may pass through the loops on the bands or hoops d, and thus the whole series locked or unlocked at once.

M, at each end of the press, are the bed plates. They are made of wood, having the end of the grain opposite to the platens,and

are faced next the s eed box with metallic plates L, recessed and grooved, to admit the end of the seed box, and to convey downward the oil which is pressed out against them. I prefer to make' these bed plates M, of several sections of wood cut across the grain, and in turning the direction of the grain in the sections, so as to avail myself of all the advantages of the strength of the wood and present the end of the grain of the wood to the resistance of the press. As these bed plates must withstand the whole force of the press, it is very necessary that they should be carefully made and secured. I make these bed plates of wood instead of metal, for reasons which I have explained in connection with the cylinder viz: because the same strength can be had with less weight, and because of the elasticity of the wood, which makes it more reliable than the metal and in the end cheaper. It is known that metal when put under a heavy strain, and then suddenly released, will become fatigued, as it is termed, its fiber becoming crystallized, and its tenacity completely destroyed. By the introduction of wood be tween the parts sustaining the entire force of the press, I relieve the metal of much of its duty, by the interposition of said wood, but the wood must be so arranged as to receive the force on the end of its grain, or else it would immediately crush, as will now be explained.

The bed plates M, are held against the force of the pistons, by the through rods N (four in number) passing from one to the other. To prevent the heads of these through bolts from crushing the wood in the bed plates, and to remove the entire strain from said heads, which they otherwise would have to sustain, and to distribute said force over a greater surface, I construct said through rods, and secure them in the bed plates as follows: On each of the ends of said rods, I form a series of collars (see the left side of Fig. l, where one of the caps is removed to show the manner of letting the rod N, into the bed plates) which together with the body of the rod itself is let into the several sections of wood which compose the bed. The collars being fast on the rod, of course each one takes its due proportion of the strain, and thus the whole strain is disseminated throughout the thickness of the bed. Should these collars, or flanges not all have an equal bearing throughout the bed at first, those sustaining the most of the force will slightly crush the wood, until all find their equable bearings, and then the force will be equally distributed throughout. The `rods being thus secured in the bed pieces, the caps O, which have grooves cut in their under faces, soas to snugly lie over the collars or flanges on the rods, are screwed on, to hold them all firmly together.

Centrally located in the bottom of the seed boxes J, so as to form a part of said bottom, are slides P, having grooves in them, into which tongues on the bottoms of said boxes take (as seen in Fig. 4) to give them proper direction. Through these slides pass vertical steam pipes e, uniting with one main pipe f, which may connect with a steam boiler. The pipes e, extend up into the seed boxes, a short distance, and plates z', z', are placed against them so as to shield them, said plates z', forming divisions or chambers inthe seed boxes. Ihe plates z', have small grooves or openings in them, through which, the steam conveyed by the pipes f, e, may enter intoV contact with the seeds, aswell as to' heat' the plates. The tempered seed is placed in the chambers formed by the division plates i, and as the platen is driven against the seed, of course the plates z' must travel as the seed is compressed. The steam pipes e, f, must also move, as they must follow the plates, which protect them, and for this purpose the slides P, are introduced, so that while the seed box remains fixed, the pipes may move as the plates z' move. g, are weights attached to said slides to draw the slides back when the v boxes are to be recharged, and L, are other weights attached to the platens I, for running them back, after the water has been let olf from vthe cylinder through the pipe j, provided withV a stop cock for the purpose, to prepare for the next succeeding operation.

When the oil has been pressed out of the seed, said oil passing out through t-he joints of the seed box, which are packed with cloth or other material for t-he purpose, and are sufliciently opened for the purpose by the force within, the cock in the pipe j, is opened, and the water flows out of F, into the reservoir C, rele-asing the platens I. The doors J of the seed boxes are thrown open, and the plates i, and seed cakes betweenthem removed. The seed boxes, are then again recharged and the operation repeated.

The doors J, as well as one of the sides J, of the box as seen in Fig. 4L, are hinged to the other two sides, so that when the rod K, is withdrawn, two sides of said box will spring from the seeds and plates, and alloysr them to be easily removed from the box.

A slip joint may be made in the steam pipe that conveys the steam into f, e, but this will not be required when the steam pipe is of any considerable length, as it will yield to the movement of the slide I), sufficient for all practical purposes.

I would state that I am aware that in tol,bacco and other presses of a similar character, staves of wood have been used, hooped l. The manner of constructing the cylinder of a hydraulic press viz: of staves of wood, when lined with copper, or other suitable metal, as well as double banded in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. I also claim the making of the bed plates M, of sections of wood, having the end of the grain ofthe wood in a line with the thrust of the piston or platen, for the purpose of using the elasticity of the wood, and thus relieving` the press from the rigidity of metal, and for lightness and cheapness of construction, and also for enabling me to arrange the through bolts so as to divided the strain upon them, and prevent their crushing the wood, as described.

3. I also claim the manner of uniting the through bolts or rods, with thebed plates viz: by means of the collars let into the separate sections of wood, for relieving the heads of the bolts of the strain, and distributing the strain throughout the bed plates, substantially as described.

4. I also claim in combination with the seed boxes, the introducing of steam directly into the seeds in said boxes in contradistinction from heating them by conduction or radiation, so as to have both heat and moisture in the boxes as described.

5. I also claim the hinging of the door, and one of the sides of the box, to the other sides, so that by drawing out the rod K, the door of the box will spring away from the plates and one side will at the same time give slightly, but sufficiently to release the cakes from the side pressure, thus allowing them to be easily lifted out or removed as set forth.

WILLIAM WILBER.

Witnesses:

A. B. STOUGHTON, THOMAS H. UPPERMAN. 

